The leather and shoe industry is your field of activity and you are searching for innovative solutions, suitable project partners or training courses to reinforce the expertise of your staff? Welcome at ISC Germany – what can we do for you?

The International Shoe Competence Center Pirmasens or ISC Germany for short is a training and research centre for the leather and shoe industry and for the trade. We are based in Germany and operate on a global scale.

We are a central contact point for all matters relating to footwear production, footwear, leather goods, leather apparel, as well as the materials and the machines needed to manufacture these products and also their marketing.

Our trainers are proven experts in their fields. Our training courses are modular and tailored to the specific needs of industry and trade. We develop tailor-made training courses for your individual needs which can be conducted either at our premises in Pirmasens or at our customers’ premises anywhere in the world.

Practice-oriented Training and Research
In our state-of-the-art training factory, ISC students can put their theoretical knowledge into practice. Actually, this production line is ISC's nucleus: This is where we produce samples and pilot runs, work on developments and test innovative production techniques to establish their suitability for use in footwear production.

Shoe production has a long tradition in Pirmasens. The expertise in leather and footwear concentrated in an around Pirmasens is unique. In addition, it is part of a global network. The ISC Germany provides a gateway to this large body of expertise: we bring project partners together, we provide innovative solutions and help your business to gain and maintain a competitive edge.

The ISC Germany opened in June, 2008. Associates are the worldwide renowned Test and Research Institute Pirmasens (Prüf- und Forschungsinstitut Pirmasens, PFI), the Association of the German Footwear Industry, and the City of Pirmasens. ISC is a privately-owned public-interest institution (gGmbH). Managing director is Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Uwe Thamm.